Four murders and one police killing yesterday marked the start of a bloody weekend.
In the first incident, around 2.15 am, two men were walking along Wall Street in Pinto Road, Arima, when they were approached by a gunman.
After proceeding to rob both men, the gunman whipped out a firearm and fired at them. One man died on the scene. He remained unidentified up to late last night. The other man, identified as Jason Pierre, of Sangre Grande, was rushed to the Arima Health Facility and later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, where he remains warded.
The second incident involved a 16-year-old student from the Arima North Secondary School.
According to reports, at around 1.50 am, the victim Anthony Seunarine was walking along Pro Queen Street, Arima, with his friends when a red Kia vehicle pulled up alongside the group.
Seunarine and his friends started to run. Seunarine, who was running along De Verteuil Street, was being followed by the car when he tripped and fell. One of the occupants came out of the vehicle and stabbed Seunarine in the neck. The vehicle then sped off.
A relative at the scene said Seunarine left home around 4.30 pm on Friday, but did not say where he was going.
Meanwhile, in Tunapuna, Kadeem Sawyer, of Achong Trace, was murdered.
Reports are that Sawyer was sitting on a chair on the Eastern Main Road, opposite the Tunapuna Market, when two men came to purchase doubles from a nearby vendor.
One of the men whipped out a firearm and shot Sawyer, who ran across the road towards the market. The gunman continued firing. Sawyer was shot four times about the head and upper body before collapsing. Police said the gunman then entered a white Elantra car and escaped.
The fourth killing occurred in Diego Martin around 11.30 am. Dale Mathias was sitting in his white Nissan X Trail outside TruValu Supermarket, when a gunman opened fire on his vehicle.
Mathias was from Rich Plain and is a known community activist. (SH)
Residents describe police shooting in Laventille as an assassination
At 2.45 pm, the peace in Prizgar Lands, Laventille, was disrupted by rapid gunfire when police shot and killed Nicholas “Bago” Caines, a shopkeeper.
Residents told the Sunday Guardian that Caines, who had marijuana in his possession, was walking in Eastern Quarry, and upon seeing a highway patrol vehicle began running.
Caines ran into a yard at O’ Garro Lane, where he attempted to jump a wall. He was shot once in the leg and twice in the head.
Caines died on the spot.
Yesterday, residents described the shooting as an “assassination.”